“I don’t imagine you would. I’d appreciate your not mentioning this talk with me to anyone at work, even if you should decide against it.”
“Of course,” I said.
“That’s it, then.” Leo slapped his knees and sat back. “If you agree to listen, Samantha and her husband can be here to see you as soon as tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“It’s quick, I know, but if you want to do it, you could do it in baby steps. Meet with her, listen, meet with the doctor, listen, and if everyone’s satisfied, visit their mansion, where you would live for nine months or so, and then make a final decision. That’s the way they explained their procedure to me.”
“I still don’t quite understand this. Has she lost a baby, miscarried, maybe more than once?”
“No. My daughter would know if that had happened, and she would have told me.”
“Then why would she want someone else to carry and deliver her baby?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Now you’re asking me to explain a woman’s mind. I think it’s easier to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel.”
I didn’t laugh, didn’t even smile.
“Look, there are other women like Samantha Davenport, women who for one reason or another don’t want to be pregnant, don’t want to go through it and lose their figures, whatever. Neither my wife nor your mother would think like those women, for sure, but as someone once told me years ago, one person’s problem is another person’s good luck. I’m sure you’ll learn more when you meet her, if you do.”
“I don’t know what to say, Leo. After hearing this, I feel like I am going over Niagara Falls.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Go sleep on it, and let me know if you want to hear more about it. Seventy-five thousand dollars, all your debts paid, no living expenses for nine months or so, and your apartment kept. I’d tell you to talk it over with family, but I doubt you’ll do that,” he said.
I nearly laughed at that idea.
And then I thought for a moment and nodded. “Actually, Leo, my father might compliment me on getting a good deal.”
He nodded, looking sympathetic. Then he smiled. “Think of it this way, Emma. You’ve been trying to become an actress, a musical one, for sure. There’ll be no orchestra, but you’ll be in a different setting, and there’ll be a limited audience, but you can imagine yourself playing a part, I suppose.”
“The part of a soon-to-be mother?”
“I suppose. With a little more than a nine-month run.”
“And casting starts tomorrow?”
“If you want it to,” he said. “If not, no problem with me. I’ll still be rootin’ and tootin’ for you, no matter what you do, Emma. Hey, it wasn’t as easy as it might seem to you for me to call you in and suggest this, but I kept askin’ myself, what if I didn’t and you ended up packin’ your bag, feelin’ like your life was over, and went home with your tail between your legs? I’d feel sicker than a hot dog with no mustard.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Thank you.”
I rose and left to do just what he had suggested, sleep on it, only I didn’t envision getting much rest thinking about it. Meanwhile, as if he somehow had sensed my life in New York had reached another crisis point, Jon Morales called that evening.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been to the restaurant, called, or dropped by to see how you were doing,” he began. “I was away for a while, visiting my family in Puerto Rico. How are things?”
“Not much different,” I said. “No breakthrough, if that’s what you mean.”
“I’m sorry. You are going to keep trying, aren’t you?”
“I’m not sure,” I confessed. “I’m giving everything more thought.”
“You mean you might return to England?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure about the next hour, much less the next day.”
“If I can help in any way… if you need someone to bounce ideas off…”
Of course, I wouldn’t mention my conversation with Leo and the proposal. Despite what I had promised, I could talk it over with Marge, I supposed, but she was working so hard to keep herself and her child safe that the idea of someone having one as if it was just a means to an end, with no real feeling for the child, surely would be off-putting. I was afraid of what her opinion of me would be simply by my suggesting I might do it.